Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #CatholicChurch

Most recents (24)

1/“One of the several reasons the current archbishop of Baltimore (William Lori) must resign is that he kept names off the list knowing that it would reduce victims’ opportunity to file suit and thereby save his archdiocese money. This egregious > indietheology.substack.com/p/part-8-the-f…
2/“inclination indicates that the archbishop may be morally unfit to lead any religious organization or community. This disposition may suggest the presence of kind of sociopathic disregard for all vulnerable people and children.”
3/This Fr. Carney whose case I look at here, was a buddy of Maskell’s. you see through the dossier on his depravity, how nursing homes sometimes became dumping grounds for rapist clerics.
Read 7 tweets
“The high court has pressed the Catholic church to explain why it didn’t have an adequate opportunity 50 years ago to investigate the extent of a priest’s abuse of children, given there were ‘red flags everywhere’ about his crimes. 1/ theguardian.com/australia-news…
2/“The court on Thursday began hearing a key case about a legal tactic now routinely being employed by the church and other institutions to permanently shield themselves from abuse survivors’ civil claims for compensation.”
3/This is a story about the Roman Catholic Church in Australia.

#Catholics everywhere should take note.

Church officials who manipulate documentation to defend against lawsuits are guilty of egregious misconduct.
Read 10 tweets
I’m digging into (reading about) the Carmelite nuns & the hysterical man-baby bishop story. I’m doing so as I reread & write about the Maryland AG ‘s report #ClergyChildRape & #ClergyAbuse In Archdiocese of Baltimore. 1/
2/Over & over again in this MD AG report there are guys who went to Catholic rape rehabs two & three time & were never publicly outed. Families were never alerted re: these perpetrators histories when bishops cycled them back into ministry with children.
3/The story of these nuns may never come out. The talk the “adultery” of one is shocking, b/c one rarely (save, perhaps #Catholic ‘Grindr-gate’) ever hears of a bishop moving to slap a big red “A” on the back of a sexually active cleric.
Read 5 tweets
1/“Whatever changes the people had wanted from the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council were, it seemed, formless, silent, lost in the bustle of a busy church frozen in a medieval mind. Instead, after 400 years without a council of reform, > ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-vo…
2/“the kinds of changes the people had expected from this council lay yet in Rome, drying in wet ink there and largely ignored here.”
3/“Oh, a few churches redesigned their confession boxes and a few more took down the altar rails, but really, other than that and the move to the vernacular in all liturgical events — nothing much did happen. Most of the changes were window dressing.”
Read 4 tweets
“In a plea agreement he signed ahead of his scheduled June 20 trial, Father Jackson, 68, a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), admitted to a single charge of receipt of child pornography.” 1/ ncregister.com/cna/father-jam…
2/“Father Jackson’s supporters rallied around the priest after his arrest, contributing tens of thousands of dollars for his defense.”
3/Let us notice that it appears these supporters rallied behind this guy even after the cache of porn made via #ChildRape was found on his computer.
Read 11 tweets
1/ It came to me very clearly while writing about the #consistentethic and #Catholics this morning.

The consistent ethic, on one view, sought to join what we might call 'sexual morality' to 'social morality,' our concern abt #abortion to other issues.
2/ Bernardin hoped a call for consistency would bring together these strands of what the #CatholicChurch teaches us.

The divisions that would thwart him already existed in 1983 when he proposed the consistent ethic. But there would be other problems.
3/ Following the cues offered by JP2's curia (to a lesser degree JP2 himself), US #Catholic bishops went a different way emphasizing sexual morality & #abortion as a preeminent priority while claiming the consistent ethic unpersuasively & keeping social morality in the backseat.
Read 14 tweets
Another Saint today; Gregory of Nyssa; this saint came from a notable family of early Christians in Asia Minor. Along w/ older brother, St. Basil the Great and their friend, theologian Gregory of Nazianzus, he is remembered as one of the Cappadocian Fathers. /1 #CatholicChurch
Among other doctinres, they asserted the superiority of Christian teachings over those of traditional Greek philosophy. /2
Although lacking the organisation skills of Basil and the contemporary influence of Gregory of Nazianzus, the learned theologian made significant contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity. /3
Read 7 tweets
1/ I am alert to the insistent appropriation of "ideology" as a sort of tell here. It signals a lack of confidence that I think insidiously nags #Catholic bishops on #gender identity questions. It poses them with a problem. Spare me a moment to say why.

ncregister.com/blog/bishop-da…
2/ It comes to this—the science is becoming quite clear that #gender is understood best as 2 clusters of characteristics we draw from, not a strict binary. We often draw characterictics from both clusters even if one clearly predominates.
3/ This view is supported in multiple peer-reviewed studies by reputable scientists in reputable publications. Gender is part chromosomal and part in utero hormonal, and this has consequences for our development: it is part of how we become who we are.
Read 17 tweets
“Pope Francis’s record is mixed on the greatest scandal to envelop the church in centuries. His forthrightness on the issue is admirable, but ultimately he, and the church, will be judged on the tangible progress they have made.” 1/ washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/…
2/ Francis, who doesn’t have & the “liberal” #CatholicChurch have dropped the ball on this. Francis doesn’t have the support to hold perpetrators & the prelates who maintain the cover-up responsible. “Liberal” Catholics have declined to use their power to oust
3/accomplices & accessories to these crimes ftom power. I have been writing about this for 20 years. It is tragic and appalling. @IndieTheology
Read 4 tweets
1/ Here is an #ElectionDay thread about #Catholics and #democracy. You should read it all but here is the TLDR headline: Catholics have done our part to bring US politics to this point, and we need to fix it.

Let's begin with a long view.
2/ The #CatholicChurch spent 1900 years avoiding #democracy, quite comfortable with empire and monarchy. The closest the church ever got was the Council of Basel (1431-1449) that followed something like democratic procedure to challenge papal supremacy, suggested a conciliar...
3/ ...approach to the governance of the church. It did not succeed.

A century earlier Marsiglio of Padua had praised ideas very close to popular sovereignty & he remained "the accursed Marsiglio" into the 19th century.

Very little in Catholicism has pointed to #democracy.
Read 20 tweets
1/ I've responded 2x today to #Catholics whose shared premise seems to be that outward performance & practice is a good measure of the #CatholicChurch's success.

And I think this pathology sits deep in the church—



2/ 'If people fulfill their obligation & show up, the #CatholicChurch is successful.'

I think this approach to inner spiritual conversion as a factory production problem needs serious, sustained attention.

So much of our #Catholic life is built to produce this attitude.
3/ All the incentives & structures of diocesan churches point that way—Oct counts, collection totals, school headcounts, etc. are perceived measures of vitality.

They're not.

They leave wholly unconsidered the question of whether #Catholics are converted by the Gospel.
Read 6 tweets
h/t @DawnChapmanSTL on the Nuclear issue in the stlouis region school. #SystemIsRigged stltoday.com/news/local/edu…? Parents demand action after...
There was a past Documentary on HBO about this Nuclear mess that has plagued the StLouis community called @atomichomefront here are some of the images from this. ImageImageImageImage
Atomic Homefront Official Trailer (2018) | HBO
Read 29 tweets
1/“Cardinal Timothy Dolan was directed in early 2021 to investigate claims against retired Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard, who has been accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse against minors” (child r*pe) > pillarcatholic.com/new-york-archd…
2/“and who admitted last year that he transferred several priests to new parish ministries without contacting police, after they were accused of sexual abuse.”
3/“A woman who claims she was sexually abused by Hubbard and other priests while she was a teenager attempted to subpoena archdiocesan records of the Vos estis investigation into Hubbard, which amount to more than 1,400 pages,”
Read 10 tweets
#CatholicTwitter #CatholicChurch #Soul #pain 1/ Fr Ephrem has been talking about the soul in his recent sermons. Today’s Gospel (12th Sunday after Pentecost) is about love. The soul is very much apart of God’s love, all our senses are taken from the soul.
2/
Like a corpse, the “spiritually dead” might have eyes to see, ears to hear, skin to feel, but they cannot see, hear, feel when God speaks to them. It is the soul that sees, hears, feels, who possesses the senses. All are not purely biological, our souls are what drives us.
3/ We are not just biological creatures answering to the laws of physics, anatomy and physiology, but of the psyche, aka our souls. Physical pain is real, but the source also comes through the soul. Through humility, and prayer, recognizing our nothingness without Him, is when >
Read 9 tweets
Today, in church, the priest said:

"Everybody in the family must go to the same church. Not husband going to one church; wife going to another church. It affects the children. Listen. Nothing twists the mentality of people than Religion."
Some Catholic girls here reaffirmed their stands that they wouldn't leave their churches for their husbands (if the men weren't also Catholics).

Offline, I've seen situations where Catholic and non-Catholic marriages began on rocky foundations.

Just six months into the marriage
and the wife is already reporting her husband to her parish priest. That the man said she should stop going to her church.

The girls I talked about may have had relationships where their faith threatened its future.

And when they couldn't bulge, the man walked.

It wasn't
Read 6 tweets
How did the date for Easter come about?

As early as 115 AD, during the time of Pope Sixtus I, some Christians had set Easter to a Sunday in the month of Nisan.

At that time, the feast of Easter was linked to the Jewish Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.

It was believed
that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus happened during the time of those celebrations.

Therefore, the Christians relied on the Jewish calendar to fix the dates for annual Easters.

However, some Christians complained that the calendar was irregular, and usually caused
issues for Easter selections. They suggested computing the date independently, but faced opposition from other Christians who preferred they relied on Jewish community.

So 200 years later, when the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine I, organized a council where Christian
Read 6 tweets
I've read the stories describing the apology tour of Pope Francis. On Monday after his first visit near Edmonton I decided to comment after the saga had unfolded. It was an emotional week for so many!
1/ #PopeFrancis #Canada #residentialschools #truthandreconciliation
We heard apologies, pleading forgiveness, more apologies, recognition of "cultural destruction" and finally on the flight home #PopeFrancis said "yes, it was a genocide, yes, yes, clearly. You can say that I said it was a genocide."
2/ #residentialschools
theglobeandmail.com/world/article-…
The genocide was justified by the #DoctrineOfDiscovery & while #PopeFrancis, #CatholicChurch, & Crown gov'ts are reluctant to rescind it, the actions I witnessed against the #Wetsuweten in their own territory are empowered by the Doctrine.
3/ #bcpoli #cdnpoli @bcndp @BCNDPCaucus
Read 10 tweets
#TLM #CatholicChurch #CatholicTwitter #TraditionisCustodes #LatinMass #DiesIrae

Day of spite and petty malice!
When a document most callous
Came forth from the papal palace

Oh, what nuisance it inventeth,
And what rancor it fermenteth,
As the faithful it tormenteth

🧵1/9
Loud complaints will be resounding
Every chancery surrounding
Bishops with a headache pounding

To what end this persecution?
Whom enriched by diminution?
For what is this the solution?

🧵2/9
See, the faithful are divided
By the place where they resided
Some shepherds took, while some provided

Lo, the ones whose loss is graver
Traded for a tyrant’s favor
May God send them leaders braver!

🧵3/9
Read 9 tweets
"Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost" ~Leonard Cohen

“[W]hat happened, is happening and will happen to us all, from the very beginning until the end of human life upon this earth.” ~John Cowper Powys, on The Iliad

1/ I'm signing off for a while.
2/ I've come to realize I've spent 30yrs with faith what's happened could be prevented—our divisions could be healed before they break us beyond repair, the #CatholicChurch could end its antagonism w/the world before it destroyed its own ability to witness to the public square.
3/ I've come to feel convinced we've recently passed a point of no return. What is lost can't be regained before it all collapses, and now the collapse seems certain to me.

It won't be like a movie. It won't happen like it's happened before. But it will happen.
Read 13 tweets
#TellYourStory how #RoeVsWade affected you. Here’s mine.

I was 17. I didn’t have high self esteem. My parents were either emotionally vacant or physically gone. I equated sex with love. I was wrong. The next part is so much like #ChristineBlasseyFord, I felt like I knew her…
My “boyfriend” took me to a party. He even came inside to meet my dad. No one had done that. I felt loved…until a couple hours later. He took me to a room in the back of the house. We’d been drinking. I had consensual sex with him. He said he needed to use the bathroom…
He left the room. closed the door. Seconds later it opened, but it wasn’t him. It was several other young men, some older - maybe in their 20s. My boyfriend came in and they tried to hold me down to gang rape me. I fought for my life and clawed one. I told them they’d have to…
Read 25 tweets
SHORT 🧵

1/ #Catholicism is not an identity. There is no "#Catholic identity."

Catholicism is the proclamation of an encompassing message of transformation suited to all times & places.

Identity is a #postmodern preoccupation.
2/ As #Catholicism is suited to all times & places that's fine. But the assertion of #Catholic identity rarely (if ever) intends to embrace #postmodernism (or even modernity).
3/ Identity comes from the Latin "idem" for "same," which a casual historical exploration would tell us #Catholicism never is. It has had countless historical and cultural expressions.

At the most obvious level, today the #CatholicChurch is 23 rites.
Read 5 tweets
1/ Reflecting a while on the #scotusleak, I have a few thoughts for #Catholics about what we lose with the overturning of #RoeVWade.

FIRST While #abortions will continue after #Dobbs, the defense of life will be built precariously on the shaky ground of results-oriented judging.
2/ This reversal of #Roe will be a narrow decision, there will be a lot in a concurrence and dissents for future courts to lean on. And, we all know this will not settle the #abortion question. So the victory here will be rather hollow legally & politically.
3/ Indeed, I would say *forcing* this decision in this way (Garland/Gorsuch, ignoring Kavanaugh's misdeeds, ACB) discredits the cause of life b/c it could not (apparently) be accomplished by persuasion & a political process.

#Catholics concerned for life should worry abt that.
Read 14 tweets
The Military and Hospitaller #orderofStLazarus has a green #maltesecross of the #KnightsHospitaller as it’s symbol - pictured are the three ‘pretending’ Grand Masters. ImageImage
#OrderofStsMauriceandLazarus has a #maltesecross of the #KnightsHospitallers and is headed by Prince Vittorio Emanuele, Knight of the #SovereignMilitaryOrderofMalta freemason & head of #HouseofSavoy ImageImage
USA (1) #President Ronald Reagan says the Order of Malta “speaks to the ENTIRE EBB & FLOW of Western civilization” when receiving the #maltesecross of the #KnightsHospitaller via the American branch of #SovereignMilitaryOrderofMalta #CatholicChurch #HolySee
Read 7 tweets

Related hashtags

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!